When the war is over
by solveariddle
Summary: What if Alex had gone through with his plan to have Norman committed to Pineview behind Norma's back? What would be the fallout for their marriage? And will Norma ever allow him to make things right again?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I've been mulling over the idea for this story for quite a while now and want to get it out, so to speak, before the new season starts and there will be all kinds of new inspiration. The label is program. This is a mix of angst and romance and this chapter has all the Normero angst.

Warning: There is a scene that might be disturbing to some people. Not because of what actually happens (there is no rape or abuse) but because of the circumstances. Can't say more without spoiling you. So I'm just putting this here to be on the safe side in case you're sensitive.

 **Disclaimer:** This wonderful show and its fan-freakin-tastic characters belong to A &E. This is just for fun. I'm making no money out of it.

* * *

Alex knows Norma will leave him the moment he hears her desperate wailing when they forcibly take Norman away from her to bring him back to Pineview.

Two signatures from relatives were required. He and Dylan signed the papers.

Dylan is standing next to him, clenching his teeth, looking straight ahead, anywhere but at his mother who is running up the stairs to the house now that the car with Norman inside has left. An incessant noise of someone relentlessly smashing things sets in.

"I should go," Alex says, pointing at the house.

"You know she will throw you out," Dylan warns him, aware that his mother will also cut all her ties with him after what he did, most likely for good.

There are two things Norma Bates won't forgive. Betrayal and hurting her youngest son, and as far as she is concerned, they did both in one go.

"I know," Alex states.

He remains standing next to Dylan for another moment because once he moves, life won't be the same anymore. They did the right thing. Norman is dangerous. Sooner or later he would have hurt Norma or even worse. His wife. Dylan's mother. Sometimes there is no choice.

Alex walks up to the house slowly. There is no need to rush. Things will end soon enough.

The hallway is a mess. Norma trashed whatever got in her way and what she didn't trash she simply knocked over. Alex can hear her frantic steps upstairs, most likely she is packing his stuff so that he doesn't waste any time moving out. He expects her to throw his bag down the stairs any moment, but he underestimated her anger. Alex hears a window break and then sees his clothes sailing through the air outside like ghosts looking for a new home. He doesn't care about his clothes, doesn't go upstairs to stop her. He just can't leave without seeing her one last time.

Norma freezes when she spots him at the head of the stairs. Then she runs towards him and hell breaks loose. The few hits she scored back then at his apartment when they had an argument were nothing compared to this. Norma is livid, all claws and hate and stronger than he thought her capable of. A force induced by love. Or hate. In the end it's all about perspective. Alex doesn't try to stop her, doesn't defend himself, just takes every blow. It feels as if he deserves it.

"GET OUT!" she screams at the top of her lungs. "GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

At some point Norma gives up due to sheer exhaustion, dropping on the floor right in front of him. It breaks his heart to see her like that. Alex reaches out to touch her, but she slaps his hand away as if he was a stray dog. So he walks out, away from her, past his clothes that are scattered over her front lawn, down the stairs and out of her life.

Back at his house he studies himself in the mirror, a thoroughly beaten up man. Bloody scratches on his face as well as on his arms and chest, several bruises, and for a moment, he thinks she also broke his nose. He looks as if he has come back from a war zone.

* * *

Afterwards he waits for Norma to file for divorce, but it never happens.

Now and then Alex sees her in town from afar. She always switches to the other side of the street before they actually meet, though, avoiding eye contact. The message is clear. As far as Norma is concerned, he doesn't exist anymore.

The court appoints a legal guardian for Norman. Not Norma. A third party. Dylan and he made clear that she would be the wrong choice. Something else she for sure won't forgive him. For a while they are the talk of the town. The crazy stepson of the sheriff being in a mental institution, his crazy mother leaving him. In hindsight everybody saw that coming. There is also the one or other rumor about Norma making the life of Norman's therapist and the staff in general at Pineview a living hell because she believes they are not treating her son right. Alex smiles whenever he hears it. Norma obviously hasn't lost her touch; some things never change. It's a relief because it means what happened didn't break her, _he_ didn't break her. But then he finds out that he did.

* * *

It's Christmas and there is no way Alex will not at least try to see Norma or talk to her. Of course she doesn't answer his calls. Therefore he drives over.

The house is dark and for a brief moment of panic he fears she left, moved away without telling him where so that he will never find her. The pain is raw and fresh, even after weeks of missing her. But when Alex lets himself in because Norma doesn't answer the door and he still has a key, there is a dim light in the living room. She is sitting there in silence, staring into space. No music. No television. Just her and the ghosts that live here. Maybe he is one of them.

It breaks Alex's heart to see her like that on Christmas Eve. Alone and sad.

"Norma," he softly addresses her although she must have heard him come in.

"What do you want?" Hostile but at least she is not screaming at him or attacking him.

"It's Christmas Eve and I just thought..."

"Alex don't!" She jumps up, turning around to face him and he is taken aback how exhausted she looks. Norma has always had a radiant aura, but it's gone, her skin grayish, her hair dull. Albeit she is still beautiful, she is merely a shadow of her former self.

"I hate the thought that you're on your own," he admits.

"Well, you made sure that I am."

"Have you at least talked to Dylan?"

She screws up her face as if he couldn't be serious and she didn't even remember the name of her firstborn anymore.

"I'm done with you. Both of you," Norma states and the finality of her words make him shiver.

"What if I'm not done with you?"

"That's your problem."

It doesn't matter what he says; she will spurn him every time.

"What did you do with my stuff?" Alex changes the subject.

"Burned it." He never came back to fetch it and can't tell whether she's lying or not. His clothes were not on the front lawn anymore. Norma wouldn't tolerate a mess for long. The house looks clean and tidy as always; she eradicated every trace of her tantrum. Save that this house used to be a home whereas now it feels lifeless.

"Maybe we can talk some day." He can't give up, can't give _her_ up.

"About what? You destroyed everything. _Everything_ , Alex. We were happy, Norman was getting better, but you had to get him out of the way." Her expression reflects something remotely resembling vulnerability, but it is gone again in the blink of an eye. "Just leave." She turns away from him, her body language as well as her words making clear that this discussion is over.

The Christmas tree Norma bought together with her sons and Emma is still wrapped, standing in a corner. A cruel remainder of a time when she believed they would celebrate their first Christmas together this year. The tree is huge; there is no way Norma will be able to get rid of it without help. Alex walks over, grabs the tree and drags it out. She doesn't intervene, just lets him do it.

"I'll come back to fix the window," Alex says on his way out.

Norma covered the broken window upstairs with cardboard. Alex saw it when he walked up the stairs to the house. It's much too cold to live in a house with a broken window. She will freeze to death.

His announcement is met with silence.

Only when Alex is sitting in his car again, he realizes Norma didn't question that he still has a key.

* * *

Alex does as announced. A couple of days later he comes back and fixes the window. And then the drain of the sink and the lock of the backdoor that the wind keeps pushing open. When he sees Norma in town buying radiators, he shows up at her house half an hour later and repairs the heating. While he is in the basement he sees that someone has been trying to manipulate the old furnace. That thing is dangerous. If Norma had put it into operation to replace the broken heating, she could have gassed herself unintentionally. But then Alex notices that the traces of manipulation are not recent. _Norman_. It was him. Alex's hands are shaking; he didn't know it had been such a close call. A heating contractor removes the furnace on the same day at Alex's request. Norma is not there when the contractor comes over, but she never asks Alex what happened to the furnace.

They have some kind of truce. She doesn't talk to him, isn't even in the same room when he is there, but she lets him fix things and sometimes he even finds a sandwich or a glass of water in the kitchen waiting for him.

Then, one day, he sees it. An envelope with his name on it on the dresser in her bedroom. He assumes the ring of his mother is in there since she is not wearing it anymore, perhaps along with a letter. Norma comes up the stairs at this very moment and catches him standing there, staring at the envelope. When he looks at her, it is the first time that she lets him see it – the pain he caused her, pain that made her take off her wedding ring and put it in an envelope as if she could get rid off her love for him along with it and seal it in there so that it wouldn't hurt her anymore. Then her mask is back, but not before something flitted across her face, something that looked like the visual equivalent for _I'm sorry_. Or maybe he only imagined that.

* * *

The unimaginable happens several weeks later. Alex fixed something that didn't really need fixing just to be close to her. He is running out of jobs to do around the house or the motel. They both know it, but neither of them has mentioned it yet. When he is about to leave, Norma appears out of nowhere and kisses him. Not a hesitant kiss to test boundaries. It's a full-blown kiss, tongue and all, like they'd used to kiss before he signed his name on a piece of paper. Alex is so stunned that he freezes. Then his body remembers her. For a moment it's as if none of it happened – Norman's committal, their separation. Their bodies haven't forgotten the sensual dance that leads up to their union. Alex is surprised when Norma obviously wants to skip foreplay. Then again, it's been a while. If she missed this only half as much as he did, then no foreplay will be needed. He trusts her; she knows her body, but he should have known that this is different. When Alex enters Norma, he realizes that she is not ready, not even close. Even then, though, she wraps her legs around his hips, urging him to do it and with a sudden clarity he knows what is going on. It turns his stomach. She wants him to hurt her.

"Norma, stop!"

They ended up on the kitchen table. It has the perfect height. Alex exchanged the old one for a new table a while ago because he couldn't imagine sitting down on a table to eat that was a requisite in the rape of his wife once.

"No!" she whimpers, clinging to him. "You don't understand."

Alex has stopped moving. There is no way in hell he is going to participate in whatever twisted game she wants to play.

"I think I do," he states. "And I'm not going to do this to you. Why do you want me to hurt you?"

Her breathing is erratic, but it's not desire as he assumed when she started this. It's pain. Emotional pain Norma desperately wants to replace with a physical component. He pulls out of her, stepping back, adjusting his clothes. The situation is awkward to say the least.

Norma remains sitting on the table in front of him, the hem of her skirt pushed up, several buttons of her blouse ripped off in the heat of the moment, her panties on the floor. There are red blotches on her pale neck where he kissed her passionately. She looks violated.

"You have no idea how guilty I feel that I still love you," she breathes.

Alex's heart aches with relief when he hears her admission. No matter how hard Norma has tried to push him away, their bond is still there. Frail, wounded, but not severed. And yet, this is about Norman, not about him. She left him because of Norman and now she wanted to punish herself by tricking him into semi-raping her. Despite the relief, her reluctant love confession on top of her actions feels like a stab and rouses Alex's bile. This is too much.

He needs an outlet, looking around to see what would cause the least damage, his eyes focusing on an empty glass on the sink. Alex smashes it on the floor, kicking against one of the chairs that topples over.

Norma has been silently crying, but now she is sobbing audibly and flinches, scared by his breakout.

"I'm sorry," she repeats over and over. "Please stop."

The fear in her face calms him down in an instant. This is not the first time Norma experiences a situation like this. She didn't flinch simply because he startled her but because she expected him to hit her as it for sure happened countless times before. _Home life was torture_ , he remembers what she told him about her past, about her family and ex-husbands. _It was not good. He was an asshole._

Alex raises his hands in a defensive gesture.

"I would never hit you, Norma. I will _never_ hurt you. And hate me if you must, but I did what I had to do to protect you because I love you, because I always will."

He starves for nearness, wants to hold and comfort her, but he doesn't dare to do it, watching her wrap her arms around herself instead in a futile effort to put herself at ease.

"Norma..."

Alex steps closer, reaching out his hand to test her reaction. The moment she leans forward imperceptibly, he takes her in his arms. Even if the situation is horrible, being able to feel her lifts a burden from his shoulders. He lets her cry, her tears soaking his shirt. When she eventually quiets down, Alex senses the tension creeping back into Norma's body and knows what she is about to say before he hears her muffled words, her head still resting on his chest.

"Don't touch me."

It's nearly impossible to let go of her, but he knows he has to. The moment he releases her, Norma jumps off the table in a flash and runs upstairs. Alex hears the door of her bedroom slam shut. She left her panties on the floor and he picks them up, for a brief moment considering to bury his nose in them just so he can smell her. The emotional turmoil hasn't diminished his arousal; no other woman has raised his passion like Norma. Every fiber of his body longs for her. She is all he can think of when he's awake and she inhabits his dreams when he's asleep.

Alex clears up the kitchen, puts the chair that toppled over back at the table and sweeps up the flinders. Then he looks at the front door, pondering on what to do before he walks into the living room to make himself comfortable on the couch. This is his wife upstairs. She is most likely crying herself to sleep right now. He can't leave even though she won't allow him to come near. Yet.

* * *

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews. I love love LOVE to read about how much you enjoy the angst. And no, that's not a discrepancy.

I can't believe I wrote (and edited) more than 4000 words in 1 ½ days. That's how much I wanted to provide you with an update this weekend.

This chapter continues right where the last one ended. The story Norma tells Alex about her past is something that I have been wanting to include in a fic for a while now and it seemed to fit here. And I apologize in advance because this chapter has more angst. Then again, you're here for that, aren't you? Because a happy ending is so much better after all the fighting. ;)

The usual **disclaimer** applies.

* * *

Alex hasn't slept at all. At least that's what it feels like. Armchair and couch as well are too small for a comfortable sleeping position, let alone that it is getting really cold at night downstairs and the spare blankets are upstairs in Dylan's former room, the last place he would have gone to in the middle of the night so as not to let his sneaking around wake her. It would have scared her to death and most likely resulted in him being thrown out of the house another time. However he must have dropped off around sunrise in a light sleep, his consciousness always hovering at the border of being awake, constantly prepared to fight off any demons that should dare to try and come near her.

Norma's gasp creeps into his sleep and wakes him up immediately. Alex startles, sitting up. "Norma! Everything ok?"

She must have just woken up, too, her hair uncombed, her face without any makeup. Norma is wearing her blue robe, one of his favorites, making him wonder what is underneath, her natural beauty stunning as always. She stares at him as if he was an apparition, softness flitting across her face due to his words and obvious protective instinct before she remembers that they are not that close anymore and what happened between them the previous night. Her expression becomes distanced.

"What are you doing here?" Despite Norma's harsh words, her tone of voice is not dismissive, almost gentle as she takes in his rumpled clothes and tired face.

"I…," Alex starts and stops again because she is right. What exactly _is_ he doing here? He settles for the truth. "I couldn't leave you alone."

There it is again. A brief flicker of emotion she straightaway buries somewhere beneath the surface. Without another word Norma turns around and walks into the kitchen. He hears her make coffee. Leave or stay? In the end, it's a rhetoric question. He loves her, this is his home. Alex fights the scum of the earth on a daily basis, but when it comes to Norma Bates, he is a weak, weak man. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and the domestic feel of the situation reminds him of how things used to be between them, the longing to have that back causing him physical pain.

When Alex enters the kitchen, he spots Norma trying to fetch something from the upper shelf of one of the wall cupboards. Since she isn't dressed yet, not wearing her usual high heels, she can't quite reach it, stretching out to do so. For a moment, he can't help but appreciate her backside that is accentuated by her movements and the way she has to lean across the countertop. Then he steps behind her, fetching the cup she was trying to reach, realizing that it is his. The one he used when he was still living here. She must have put it out of sight after she threw him out. And now she was looking for it so that he could use it again. It's the only logical conclusion. Something in Alex's chest tightens.

Norma freezes when she feels his body behind her. The kitchen is silent save for their quiet breathing and the sounds of the coffee machine. Alex puts the cup on the countertop but doesn't step away from her. Instead he leans into her some more. Without her high heels the weight difference is perfect when he wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her closer, her head resting on his chest just underneath his chin so that he can bury his nose in her hair.

"I miss you," Alex whispers, breathing her in, afraid that even the slightest movement, the quietest sound will destroy their nearness.

Her hands hesitatingly come to rest on top of his, not stroking him, merely resting there, allowing him to hold her close.

"I miss you too," Norma's voice is so low, her words just as well might have been a wisp of wind outside.

She turns around in his arms. Feeling her body pressed against his, her lips so close is torture. Alex's mind flashes back to images of the morning after they had slept together for the first time, to the passionate way they kissed then. Norma reaches out to caress his face, her fingers grazing his cheek and lower jaw. He feels certain that she can sense the tension beneath, the effort it costs him to not grab and kiss her here and now. Then she leans forward and brushes his lips with hers. It's not a real kiss, only a fleeting manifestation of her affection, and yet, Alex can feel the smile spreading on his face when Norma leans back to look at him.

She smiles, too, even though hers is much more reluctant, nodding towards the coffee machine.

"Coffee is ready."

And that's how they sit down and have coffee together. It's not a proper breakfast, can't compare with the tons of eggs and toast she used to make for him and that could feed two men at least. They don't even talk. But it's something, a beginning even if Alex doesn't dare to set his hope on it. When he eventually leaves because he has to go to work, it starts to rain, but he can't stop smiling. This is the best day he's had in months.

* * *

Save that it was an exception. Or at least not the beginning he has been hoping for. A beginning implies that something continues, grows and changes into something else, something better whereas they seem to be stuck.

Alex doesn't pretend to have to fix something anymore. He simply comes over. There is always a cup of coffee waiting for him, sometimes even some leftovers for dinner. He is pretty sure Norma prepares it especially for him and only refers to it as leftovers, but she is adamant to pretend otherwise and he plays along. That's the good part. No matter how delicious the food is and how much he enjoys their time together, though, leaving her afterwards becomes more and more difficult. Sometimes he stays over, sleeping on the couch or in Dylan's former room. He has a blanket now, but these overnight stays are such a hollow version compared to sleeping next to Norma in the same bed that it's almost easier to bear the emptiness of his house instead. Almost. It's not an actual choice when you have to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. Either miss her when he is alone in his house or miss her when he is sleeping under the same roof but still not allowed to hold her. Plus they don't talk, not about what's important. Norma halts each and every effort he makes, immediately changing the subject to a meaningless issue. It frustrates the hell out of him.

Let alone that he hasn't expected the physical part to become so crucial. After two weeks of marriage, of sleeping with Norma at least once a day, Alex knows what it is like, and albeit he has never taken drugs, he imagines this is what it must feel like to go cold turkey. His body can't stop longing for her and it keeps getting worse. Alex is sick of lonely nights at his house, thinking of her, imagining it was her hand or mouth pleasuring him, finding release so quickly it is embarrassing. He has been hoping things would get better when in fact the opposite is true. Being close to Norma and still not being _with her_ is the worst possible outcome.

So the next time he comes by, Alex is prepared to address it. As painful as it may be, things can't go on like this. But then he finds Norma asleep in the bedroom. An afternoon nap, something she started to do recently, another coping mechanism to escape reality. He sits down in the living room and watches TV, waiting for her to wake up, wondering whether he should just take the huge TV and leave since she doesn't like it, anyway, although Norma never has said that out loud. She is right though. It doesn't fit into the house. What was he thinking when he bought it? Maybe he never fit into the house either. Maybe they were never meant to be and he is chasing an illusion.

Alex mutes the TV when the doorbell rings. Just as he is about to go over and check who it is, he hears Norma come down the stairs in a hurry. She is probably as surprised and worried as he is. Visitors are a rarity in the Bates mansion and their presence seldom means good news.

"What do you want?" Norma asks as soon as she has opened the door, her tone of voice indignant; she is not even trying to hide her annoyance.

For a moment Alex is alarmed because whoever it is, the past has proven that danger tends to knock on her door more often than not. Then he recognizes the voice of her visitor.

"I want to talk to you."

It's Dylan.

"Well, I don't want to talk to you."

However Norma doesn't close the door in her son's face but simply turns around and walks away. Neither she nor Dylan have noticed him yet, making him an involuntary audience of their upcoming argument. It will be an argument. This much Alex is sure of and probably Dylan too.

Norma has gone into the kitchen. When chaos swirls around her, she prepares food. Another one of her coping mechanism. Her number one, actually. Alex hears her open and close the fridge and some drawers before she begins to chop vigorously. Carrots he presumes based on the slicing sounds of the knife but then decides that it has to be something else. Broccoli perhaps although he has no idea how he would have come to know such a thing. Apparently he is paying way too much attention to every little detail when it comes to Norma.

"Just hear me out." Dylan is highly aware of what is happening, has experienced enough of his mother's conniptions to recognize the warning signs.

No answer, just the chopping of the knife.

"I went to see Norman."

The knife stops.

"He is… not well but getting better, I think. He wants to get better." There is a brief pause. "He told me that he doesn't want to see you at the moment."

Alex didn't know that. It pains him to hear it and makes him all the angrier with Norman. The one person on this planet that has the ability to take Norma away from him. He succeeded and still continues to punish her. Blazing heat coils in his stomach, and since Norma needs a moment to digest Dylan's remark, Alex uses the break to step into the kitchen, standing in the doorframe to keep his distance. The atmosphere is taut enough as it is, adding his anger to the mix would do more harm than good.

If Norma is surprised to see him, she doesn't let it show. Dylan is.

"You're living here again?" Dylan looks at Norma, then back at Alex, hurt and rage in his face. They both wronged her and here he is being the one punished the most by her once again, excluded like always.

"No," Alex clarifies after he has been waiting a moment for Norma to say something, silently hoping she would confirm Dylan's question. As if. He is not living here because she won't let him.

"But you're here," Dylan states the obvious.

Before Alex can respond, Norma's timid voice interrupts him, "How is he?"

Dylan scoffs. Here he is, wanting to talk to his mother about their screwed-up relationship, trying to fix it, but of course she would ask him about his brother. Alex shares his sentiment. Right now, Norma doesn't care whether Dylan or he are suffering, her mind focused on nothing but Norman since Dylan mentioned him.

Dylan answers, anyway, "As I said, not good but getting better."

"Does he eat enough? Sleep?"

It's painful to watch how she practically begs for any information about Norman Dylan is willing to give her, the cruel truth being that if she had known sooner Dylan was the only link to Norman, she would have talked to him the second she found out.

Dylan is no stranger to this game though. He screws up his face but gives in, anyway, "Yes. Yes, he does, Norma."

"But why won't he see me? He doesn't even take my calls."

Alex has no idea how often she has tried to call or visit her son to no avail. She has never mentioned anything. Maybe that's why she needs to take a nap in the middle of the day. What life has to offer her is simply too exhausting.

"He is sick, Norma. There's no use to try and make sense of his behavior."

"But he is talking to you. Why would he do that? You and Alex signed the papers, not me." Despite Dylan's remark, Norma is convinced that she is the only one able to decode Norman's irrationality if he only let her.

Something close to pity flits across Dylan's face. "You know how he is. Norman believes Romero is to blame for everything. That he somehow persuaded me to sign the papers and since you married him..." He darts a glance at Alex. "We all know Norman's affection for you goes way beyond what's normal." Norma flinches but doesn't object. Dylan shrugs. "It is as it is, Norma. If you're asking me whether he'll ever forgive you or not, I don't know."

She tears up and sniffles. "Please leave."

"We still need to talk," Dylan insists.

But she only laughs bitterly. "What is there to talk about? You betrayed me." She is talking to Dylan; however Alex knows very well that her words are also directed at him. That this is the reason why he is not allowed to live here, let alone sleep in her bed. "And as a consequence I lost the dearest boy who has ever lived. If Norman does not forgive me, why would I forgive you?"

"Norman is sick." Dylan repeats, not ready to give up that easily. "He needs to get help. Help we can't give him. Why do you refuse to see that we only did the dirty work for you?"

"JUST LEAVE," she yells, pointing at the door.

Dylan nods defeated, passing Alex on his way out. "Good luck! But don't waste your life waiting for something she will never give you."

The door closes behind Dylan, filling the house with an uncomfortable silence. Norma is standing at the sink, staring outside but not seeing anything, her chest rising and falling due to uncried tears and more, unyelled words.

Alex is uncertain what to do. He doesn't want to leave, but he came over to talk to her and now is the worst time to do that.

"If you want me to leave too...," he starts, gesturing towards the door.

Norma doesn't notice it, trapped in her thoughts. She seems to have calmed down. Considering her erratic mood swings and volatile behavior, you can never know how long this will last though.

"It's all my fault," she whispers.

"What is?" There is a variety of options after all.

"I had a daughter," she breathes so inaudibly that Alex thinks he misunderstood.

"What?"

"I mean. I didn't really have her. But I was pregnant, shortly after I'd had Norman and it was a girl. The doctor told me." A wistful smile appears on her face as she relives the moment. Norma turns around to look at him and the endless sadness in her eyes breaks Alex's heart. Then she turns away from him again. "I was so excited to have a little girl. I imagined how I would dress her, comb her hair." She raises her hands as if she was touching her imaginary child, stopping mid-motion when she becomes aware of what she is doing. Her wistful smile fades. "And then I realized that this girl would be born into my world. A world of violence and abuse where men would take advantage of her whenever it pleased them." Her voice drips with disgust. "How was I supposed to protect her? I couldn't even protect myself."

Alex watches her wring her hands in despair, holding his breath. By now he knows all about her past or at least thought he did. It is hard to bear whenever she reveals another glimpse, and yet, he can't tear his eyes away from her. After all that happened to her, everything she had to endure, here she is, broken but still standing.

"I considered having an abortion, but I couldn't do it. And so..." Norma is crying now, the tears falling on her blouse and the countertop. She doesn't wipe them away, just lets them fall. "So I tried other ways like having baths that were much too hot or climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator even though my gynecologist had told me that I needed to rest because it was much too early after Norman, but Sam…" Norma takes a deep breath.

He doesn't need more details to understand what happened. Obviously her former husband didn't care about health risks let alone her emotional state when he forced her to have sex with him much too early after she had given birth. Violent images torment Alex when Norma's voice brings him back to the here and now.

"And then, one day, I lost her. Just like that. There was so much blood." Norma has stopped moving, her body perfectly still as she stares into nothingness, reliving a moment that must have been one of the most painful of her life. "I know it was wrong, but it felt right somehow because I always thought of it as saving her. But then..." She bends over as if the emotional pain suddenly has become physical and she is not able to stand upright any longer. "… a few weeks after, Norman started to behave weirdly even if he was so small. I knew something was wrong with him. And it was my fault because of what I had done, and all my life I have been trying to make up for it, but now he's gone and I'm going to lose him and it's all my fault and..." The words come faster and faster, tumbling out of her mouth. She has trouble breathing.

"Norma..." Alex approaches her, grasping her elbows to gently turn her around so that she faces him. "Norma, stop. What happened to your unborn child was tragic, but things like that happen and you can't know whether it was actually your fault or would have happened, anyway. And it for sure didn't cause Norman's condition."

He is aware that he is whitewashing the situation to some extent. Maybe Norma would have a healthy daughter if she had followed her doctor's instructions. But she was desperate and alone and people do horrible things with the best of intentions.

"What if it did?" she persists. "You can't know, Alex. You haven't lived my life. I mean, I know that it didn't cause it biologically or medically speaking. But every time something good happens, life takes it away from me. I had Norman and he got sick. I could have had a daughter, but I didn't. I had you and…" She leans into him, her head resting on his chest. "I don't want to fight anymore. I want it to stop. Make it stop. Can you? Please." Norma raises her head, her lips only inches away from his, the tears on her face a blur because she is so close.

The entire situation eerily reminds Alex of the day she came back from Pineview after her argument with Norman and slept with him for the first time. Norma needs physical affection to deal with a situation. It's inconsistent because on one hand she constantly shuts him off, and then suddenly, she pulls him so close, literally and figuratively, that he can't breathe. But that's Norma. Contradiction is her middle name.

She kisses him and it's wrong, but it feels so, so good. Her tongue slips into his mouth after briefly teasing his lower lip, every sensual touch sending shivers of arousal through his body. He would never admit it, let alone say it out loud, but sex with Norma is the best when she is like this, emotionally broken, needy because then she drops every limit, every rule. And she is on her way there; he can tell when she rubs herself against him, still kissing him passionately, her hands caressing his neck as she loves to do.

Alex knows that he needs to be the reasonable one, but for a moment he doesn't give a shit, grabbing her hard, kissing her even harder, his hands moving over her hips to her ass. And Norma is all too willing to let it happen as he pushes his hips against her, her hands starting to unbutton his shirt, her legs subtly spreading so that she can feel him rocking against her, searching for friction. This is different than the night several weeks ago when she tried to sleep with him to punish herself, and yet, Alex knows that sleeping with her now wouldn't change anything but make things worse.

"Norma, stop it."

"I need it."

"Stop."

"Please Alex. Please..." Her words a whiff against his skin that almost makes him give in. The way she looks at him, her swollen lips, her tousled hair. She feels so good in his arms, her body vibrating with need and longing, putting his body in overdrive.

"No." He steps back, away from her and the way she looks at him tells him she can't believe this is actually happening. Probably because no man ever has said no to her before.

Norma raises an eyebrow. "You want me to go and find someone else to do the job?" She is just provoking him, never would do that, her words confirming that he made the right decision though. This is unhinged Norma, the version of her that will do or say anything to get what she wants only to regret it later.

"Norma, you just threw your son out and told me about a child you lost. I don't think this is healthy. Dylan wanted to talk to you and you wouldn't let him. I need to talk to you and you wouldn't let me either."

She frowns. "Talk about what?" Only Norma could ask that.

"About us."

She ceases her face in a way that is supposed to indicate that he is the one boycotting an _us_ at the very moment.

"Not that," Alex clarifies. "About us in general."

"Oh… _In general._ " Sarcasm. Dangerous. Norma is on a roll. "You mean, as in why I won't let my husband move back in with me because he BETRAYED ME AND WENT BEHIND MY BACK?" Her anger has been boiling somewhere beneath the surface ever since she opened the door and saw Dylan. It needs a way out.

"Yeah, about that," he answers calmly.

"Fuck you, Alex." Norma heads out, pushing him away in passing although it isn't necessary to go past him; there is enough room.

The physical contact is supposed to provoke him even more. And it does, just not in the way she intended. It arouses him, the image how he pushes her down on the table and has his way with her hard to resist. Alex grabs Norma's upper arm, having to remind himself not to give in to his fantasy.

"You told me you love me," he says instead. It was the only good thing that happened in that fateful night although the context was awful. "I need to know whether that's still true. Because I can't keep doing this, Norma. Not when you won't give me anything in return. So, do you still love me?"

Alex feels certain that this is what he sees in her eyes. _Love_. However he needs to hear it from her. It's so hard to be the only one who keeps fighting for their marriage. She needs to give him something.

She won't though; he can tell by the way her eyes darken. He hurt her and payback is a bitch.

"Lock the door behind you when you leave."

"Don't do this, Norma. I won't run after you forever if you keep treating me like that."

But she is already gone.

* * *

To be continued

 _I'm sorry (not sorry) for that sad cliffhanger ending, but we all know where this is going. So don't worry, ok?_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I wanted to finish this story before the final season starts on Monday and hope you will like the way I chose to end it. As far as I'm concerned, I need every Normero feeling I can get to keep me sane throughout the wild ride that this season for sure will be. I can't wait for it to start but also don't want it to be over.

When I began to write this chapter, I thought there wasn't much left to tell. Turned out I was wrong, very wrong. ;) Enjoy!

The usual **disclaimer** applies.

* * *

Alex Romero is used to threaten people, beat them up, kill someone if necessary. He has a reputation as a man who takes no nonsense. The rare occasions when he couldn't avoid that shit went down, he took the hit and moved on. Staying away from Norma is the hardest thing he has ever done in his entire life though. He is waiting for it to get easier as the days pass and his life slips back into the meaningless routine it was before her, but it doesn't happen. Maybe it never will.

This is not a struggle for power. This is a necessary consequence. Granted, he hurt Norma, but she hurt him, too, and his absence is about making her understand that. Norma is stubborn. However they are married; she told him she loved him. Hell, he knows she still loves him, and yet, she doesn't call or come by. He doesn't even see her in town anymore; she probably stays away so that she doesn't run into him by accident.

Bottom line: Shit went down, he took the hit, but while he is not able to move on, she might have done that already.

The request of the DEA comes approximately two weeks after Alex saw Norma for the last time. The DEA is still hoping to find enough dirt on him to lock him up, but so far they haven't succeeded albeit Alex is highly aware that they keep trying. They also appreciate his value when it comes to dealing with everything related to drug business, though, and as chance would have it, they are investigating one of the top drug pusher he ran out of town. When they ask him to temporarily join their team, something that requires staying in another city for a while, Alex doesn't hesitate. Being in White Pine Bay suffocates him; every corner holds memories of Norma. The shop where they bought groceries together, the square where they danced at the Winter Lights Festival, the town hall where they got married. So he leaves.

He has to keep the temporary assignment a secret in order to not threaten the investigation. Alex simply tells his staff that he will be out of town for a couple of days for cause. His senior deputy takes over. Funny how it would have been nearly impossible for him to do that some weeks ago because it was his town and he wanted to be in charge whereas now it almost feels as if a burden has been lifted from his shoulders.

When Alex has finished packing his bag, he reaches out to grab his cell but doesn't take it. He has been waiting for Norma's call for two weeks and she hasn't tried to contact him. Not once. Alex hesitates some more before he turns his phone off and puts it in the drawer of his nightstand. Norma has the number of his office. If she needs help and isn't able to reach him, she will call there, a skeleton crew making sure that calls are answered around the clock. It feels strange to leave town, leave her in a way, especially since no one knows where he is or is able to reach him. Alex feels lost and free at the same time.

* * *

The assignment takes longer than expected. In the end, Alex returns only after another two weeks. It's late in the afternoon when he is on his way back to his house, looking forward to a hot shower and dropping off in bed afterwards. Alex is satisfied with the result of his work-related detour. They caught the guy and perhaps his effort has helped to get rid of the DEA for good. He is tired of looking over his shoulder, waiting for them to convict him.

For now his satisfaction as well as his weariness repress the feeling that has set in on an unconscious level. Ever since the moment he drove past the city-limit sign of White Pine Bay, Norma has been drawing him closer and closer back into her hemisphere, her spell on him overshadowing everything else. It's not as if Alex didn't think of Norma when he was gone, that would have been impossible, the memory of her imprinted on every fiber of his body, on his entire existence. But it was different. The distance turned the hurt into something rather resembling a phantom pain. In between there were moments when he almost believed he could make it without her, move somewhere else, start over although he was aware that it was a delusion. Norma is living under his skin, inhabiting every breath he takes and this is the way it will always be whether he likes it or not. She is his fate.

Alex blinks to dissipate his exhaustion and concentrate on driving as outlines of trees fly past. Another car comes his way. Greenish. Mercedes. Norma. The moment she sees him, she steers her car over on his lane. If he hadn't slammed on the breaks, she would have caused a head-on collision.

He has no time to process what happened because Norma has already jumped out of her car and run towards his, yelling at him, her words muffled due to the closed window. Alex sighs and opens the driver's door, getting out as well.

"...don't answer my calls and I don't even know where you've been," her screaming attacks him mid-sentence.

Alex just stands there, looking at Norma, trying to sort his feelings. His exhaustion makes him numb to some extent and he welcomes it because he can feel his yearning and frustration boiling beneath, twisting his insides. Nothing is resolved and here she is, yelling at him because or despite or whatever.

"Away," he says, the word just slipping out.

His calmness irritates the hell out of her. "What?"

"Where I've been. Away."

Norma tilts her head and steps back, almost stepping in front of a car that drives past. Alex grabs her arms, preventing worse at the very last minute as the driver honks, swearing at Norma, the car almost spinning out of control while she doesn't even seem to register what is going on.

"What's that supposed to mean? _Away_?" she hisses.

"It means not in town. Some business I had to deal with."

Norma narrows her eyes in suspicion. "Well, I called you last night. And you didn't pick up or call me back. As far as I know, cell phones work _away_ just as well as here or doesn't yours?" She makes air quotes as if her blistering sarcasm wasn't obvious already.

Alex realizes that it was the first time she called him. Otherwise she would have found out that he was out of town much earlier. It took her a month to call him and it couldn't have been anything serious because she is standing right in front of him alive and kicking. Probably a blocked drain or some such thing and of course Norma would have expected him to take care of it immediately simply because she is used to him doing exactly that. Her lack of empathy leaves a bitter taste in his mouth, his next words chosen deliberately.

"I didn't take my phone with me. I turned it off and left it here."

That struck home. Norma looks as if he hit her. "Oh," she then breathes, her voice different all of a sudden. She sounds like a timid child, having changed her tactic by instinct. If yelling isn't successful, maybe reminding him how fragile she is will be. Alex feels certain that Norma isn't even aware of what she is doing. It's learned behavior, the result of her past that keeps bleeding into her present.

They are back to square one. They need to talk it out but not now, not when he reeks of too many hours of surveillance and is too tired to think straight. Every battle with Norma requires a clear head and considering how fast things between them have been going downhill lately, Alex doesn't want to risk another escalation. He needs her, however, to understand his train of thought.

"Norma..."

But triggered by his non-reaction, she has already turned around, walking back to her car. A wave of guilt floods through Alex. She is his wife after all. He should have told her he was leaving and where he went, should have taken his phone along so that she could reach him.

"Norma…," Alex tries again, talking to her back.

She waves her hand around, a dismissive gesture to let him know he had his chance and missed it. When she eventually drives away, she does it without so much as looking at him.

Back at his house, the first thing Alex does is check his phone. Ten calls from her, all last night around midnight, no voice mail. His finger hovers over the phone, longing to call her, if only to hear her voice. Then he remembers. She didn't call him for a month, obviously didn't miss him until she needed something. He puts the phone down and takes a shower, his body aching for sleep. All he sees when he closes his eyes, though, is her face. It takes him hours to drop off.

* * *

The next day Alex is just gassing up his car when his phone rings. It's one of his deputies.

"You… err… you might want to come back to the office, Sheriff Romero, because… err… your wife's here."

"In my office?"

"No," the deputy sounds even more uncomfortable if that is possible. "In one of the interrogation rooms. She was arrested." Alex is stunned as the deputy tries to explain. "She was at the dry cleaner's and got into a fight with another customer. She wouldn't stop and kept saying _so arrest me_ until we arrived and did that. We had no choice because she wouldn't calm down and..." Alex doesn't hear the rest. He has already hung up, speeding back to the office.

When he comes in, everyone feigns to be busy doing something so they don't have to look at him albeit it's obvious that they are following his every move and word.

"Which one?" he barks.

"Number five," the deputy that called him answers, jumping up. "And Sir, I just wanted to say that..."

"Not now," Alex stops him, already on his way to the interrogation rooms.

He opens the door so angrily that it crashes into the wall with a loud bang, startling Norma who is sitting inside, looking at least a little worried. Good.

"Get up!" he shouts at her.

Norma's eyes are wide open. He has never used that tone of voice in her presence before.

"I said. _Get up_ ," Alex repeats when she doesn't move, grabbing her upper arm to pull her up.

"Ok, ok." She has already regained her composure, is rather annoyed than intimidated. "Gee! Calm down."

He doesn't reply, just drags her along behind him, ignoring his staff staring at them. Obviously they are past the point where they felt the need to pretend to not notice anything because this is too good to miss.

The front door closes behind them, shutting out any curious glances, but Alex still doesn't let go of Norma's arm, more or less shoving her into his car. As he walks around his car and gets in, he half expects her to jump out and run away, half wants her to do it so that he can catch her and grab her even harder. However Norma seems to be too perplexed by his behavior to even move. For a brief moment, Alex sits in the driver's seat, staring at his hands clutching the wheel as if he has forgotten how to drive. Then he starts the engine.

"Which dry cleaner was it?"

"I… Alex…," Norma stutters, probably preparing to give him an explanation, but he won't have it.

His stare makes clear without a doubt that he doesn't intend to ask the question again but expects an answer, anyway. So she gives him the address and then they both fall silent for the rest of the drive.

* * *

Norma's car is parked right in front of the dry cleaner's in the no standing area. When they arrive, Alex can't say anymore what he was aiming to prove when he dragged her out of the interrogation room to bring her over except that she is driving him crazy. That is quite obvious. He came back not even 24 hours ago and their lives have clashed twice already in typical Norma fashion. The fact that she hadn't reached out to him for a month and then continued to turn his world upside down as if nothing had happened infuriated him, but his anger has more or less disappeared by now. It's pointless. Things are as they are and Norma is… Norma. So maybe it would be best if he let her go in every meaning of the word. Just as she is about to grasp the lever to get out of the car, though, Alex steps on the gas and drives on.

He steers the car out of town and then veers right on a forest path, turning the engine off. If Norma is surprised at what he is doing, she doesn't let it show. Hell, he doesn't even know himself what is going on. She has this effect on him.

"What was that?" Alex asks. "Why did you want to get arrested?"

Norma shrugs. "To talk to you."

He turns his head to look at her, but she keeps staring straight ahead out of the windshield.

"Why not call me or just come by?" Sometimes Alex wonders what it is like in her head. All these messed up thoughts and feelings he loves so much. He wishes he had a map to decipher her. Then again, part of his attraction to her are the mysteries that surround her, the secrets and lies.

Norma makes eye contact and it feels like it always does, like touching a power cord, her energy somehow being reflected in his body. Alex has stopped scrutinizing how this is possible. It just happens.

She shrugs again as if what she is about to tell him was obvious. "Well, you apparently didn't want to have anything to do with me anymore. You left, didn't take my calls, didn't even take your phone along when you were gone. What was I supposed to do?"

It sounds logical save that it was the other way round. At least initially. _She_ left _him_ and broke contact. But that's Norma for you. Her perception of the world will always be different from the way others experience it. Therefore Alex saves his breath.

"Don't worry about the arrest," he says instead. "I'll handle it."

"Thank you." Norma smiles at him sadly. "I'm sorry that I did that and that your staff saw it all." She screws up her face.

"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Her smile turns from sad into beaming. "I saw Dylan. We cleared things up." Norma watches him like a child waiting for praise and it doesn't take long for her to get it because Alex can't hide his amazement and joy.

"You did? Norma, that's great. So, you're on good terms again?"

She nods. "I think so." Norma hesitates. "I even talk to Norman through Dylan. He started to ask questions about me recently and Dylan tells him my answers when he visits him." Norma darts a shy glance at him, her youngest son the taboo subject between them, the reason everything fell apart.

"That's good," Alex forces himself to say although it is difficult to suppress his rage whenever Norman's name comes up. Norman is sick. Medically speaking, none of this is his fault. That doesn't change the fact, though, that it feels like it.

The silence setting in is comfortable. Alex alternates between looking out of the window and watching Norma. There is more; he can sense it. She takes a deep breath.

"And I… I wanted to talk to you about us." She swallows. "When you left after you'd said you won't run after me forever, I just… I can't lose you, Alex. I know I don't look too good in this whole thing." Norma makes a dismissive gesture. "But I don't know how to do this and there is no one I can ask. I never had to talk things out, make a relationship work. Whenever I tried to do that in the past, they never wanted to talk. It was either...," her voice trails off as Norma remembers her former marriages, times she is trying very hard to forget. Alex knows all too well what she is referring to. It was either sex or violence, nothing in between, no tenderness, no equal partnership, no talking things out.

He was so stupid. It was all about giving her enough time to come to terms with the situation at her own pace. What felt seemingly endless for him because he missed her so much and it appeared as if she wasn't making any progress, probably felt rushed for Norma. You can't change habits of a lifetime within the span of a few weeks.

A shadow flits across Norma's face. "It's too late, isn't it? I screwed it up."

"Norma..."

"I was on my way back from your house when we met yesterday," she admits. Well, _met_ is one way to put that she almost caused an accident. On purpose. "When you didn't answer my calls and didn't call me back the next day, I was so worried. I would have driven to your office next. I didn't know where you were, couldn't reach you. That had never happened before."

Alex was so trapped in his own hurt that it didn't even occur to him. The way she must have felt when he didn't answer her calls, was nowhere to be found. Norma absent-mindedly rubs her arm where he grabbed her to drag her along.

"I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?" It's a ludicrous question. He certainly hurt her. In more ways than one.

"No, of course not," Norma replies all the same and stops rubbing her arm, realizing what she has been doing.

That's when he sees it. A nasty bruise on her wrist. It looks ugly and fresh. Alex pushes the sleeve of her coat up to get a better look.

"What is this? Norma! Who hurt you?"

Her entire demeanor changes. Norma's breathing is getting erratic, the expression in her eyes defensive.

"I don't… I…," she starts and stops, unable to phrase a coherent sentence.

"What?" he urges her.

She practically jumps out of the car. Knowing her, Alex was prepared for something like that to happen. Fight or flight; that's how it always is with her. He gets out in a flash, running around the car to stop her before she can dash into the woods.

Norma is trapped between the car and him. She is still breathing much too fast, the words tumbling out.

"It's nothing. I don't want to talk about it. It's..."

He waits her rant out, letting her ramble as he connects the dots. The bruise that looks fresh. Ten calls from her that he missed.

"Did that happen the night before last? When you called me?" The guilt is overwhelming. Her calls weren't about something meaningless. Norma was in danger, got hurt and he wasn't there for her.

For some reason his concern seems to be what she needs to calm down. Norma's breathing is getting regular again.

"It's ok," she mumbles. "It's over. He left."

"Who?" Her insistence to not tell him anything is driving Alex oder the edge. "Damnit, Norma! Who did this to you?"

She holds his gaze and then says the name that started the downward spiral that was Norma Bates' previous life.

"Caleb."

Alex is too stunned to speak. Her brother. The man who raped her. She was alone with him and he must have attacked her. His insides feel as if someone doused them with acid.

Norma sees the pain in his eyes, encompassing his face with her hands. "It's ok, Alex," she repeats. "He is gone. Nothing happened." She knows what he is thinking, what abysmal fear is tormenting him.

"That is not nothing," Alex growls, grasping her wrist and turning it to see the full extent of her injury.

"He got upset," Norma explains as if it was perfectly normal that someone physically hurt her because of a disagreement.

Alex clenches his teeth. "What did he want?"

"He was around because he had to take care of some things and came by. It was ok at first until he drank too much and got nostalgic." She senses the tension in Alex's body and shakes her head. "It wasn't about _that_." Norma sighs. "But he wanted to stay in touch and got angry when I told him that wouldn't work." She gets lost in her thoughts for a moment. "You can't get past some things, right?" As if he needed to affirm her decision to make it valid.

Alex hates Caleb with a vengeance. That bastard shaped Norma's perception of men and relationships, distorted it so much that it will always be difficult for her to accept that someone loves her for her own sake.

"Where is he now?" He will take her home, find this guy and beat the shit out of him or worse.

"He's back in Costa Rica."

Or not. That's a bit far away. If he ever dares to pay her a visit again though…

"I don't think he will come here another time." Norma reads his thoughts.

Alex nods. "Ok." He has to settle for this then. Only now he notices how cold it is. Spring is approaching, but here in the woods temperatures are still chilling. "Let me take you home."

Norma is searching for something in his eyes and he realizes she is uncertain about them. _It's too late, isn't it? I screwed it up._

"I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you, didn't protect you," Alex apologizes.

As if she has been waiting for this, Norma throws herself in his arms, kissing him hard. It's as unexpected, slightly inappropriate and wonderful as most of their encounters but also feels different. This is not a desperate attempt to suppress something else; this is the real thing.

Norma fumbles around behind her back, trying to open the door to the back seat.

"What are you doing?" Alex murmurs between kisses when she succeeds and pulls him into the car.

"I've always wanted to do that," she breathes, her fully dilated pupils leaving no doubt that this, indeed, is one of her fantasies.

This is madness. He is on duty. They are in a public place. Then again, no one comes here at that time of the year. That's why he chose this forest path. And when Norma writhes underneath him, spreading her legs after she took off her panties, Alex knows he won't be able to resist her.

He reaches for his gun and badge to put them down, but Norma stops him. "No, leave it on," she whispers, pushing his hand between her legs.

By now, Alex has experienced many different sides of Norma in bed and beyond, but this is Norma unleashed and he loves every second.

She lets her head fall back when he complies and starts to move his fingers inside of her. It feels so good. Her body. Their closeness. Everything. Whatever barriers they have been building up throughout the last weeks, they are tearing them down right now.

"Harder," Norma moans impatiently as Alex moves his fingers inside of her, giving her a foretaste of what's to come. Their encounter is rushed. It's been a while. They both won't last long, the built-up desire too much. However Norma can't seem to get enough. "Hold me down," she begs, crossing her arms above her head so that it's clear what she wants.

The bruise around her wrist is a painful reminder that someone else held her down recently when she didn't want it and Alex hesitates. But when Norma hisses, "Do it!", his hand that is not busy between her legs shoots up to clasp both of her wrists. Who is he to deny her anything? Especially when she arches up with pleasure like that.

Alex feels himself rush towards release faster than ever before although he is still completely dressed and she isn't even touching him, only her moving legs and hip causing just the right friction.

"I can't…," he gasps. _Can't wait any longer, can't hold myself back any more._

"Then don't," she murmurs into his mouth while they are kissing.

So he lets go of her wrists as long as it takes to push down his pants and briefs before he slides inside her, clasping her hip with one hand before his other hand holds her wrists down again. The position is average, the execution, however, completely different, the way she is surrendering herself to him making it so much more. After a few thrusts Alex knows he won't be able to stave off his release much longer and Norma knows it, too.

"Wait for me," she whispers, her breath hot against his neck.

He stops moving although she doesn't and the frantic way she keeps pushing her hip against him almost drives him over the edge. But then the volume of her moans increases and he knows that this is it, meeting her hips halfway with his own, thrusting hard.

She might have screamed his name and he might have bitten the soft skin of her neck a little too hard. None of this matters, though, because when they both come down from their peak, their panting breath mingling, she says those three words he feared he would never hear from her again.

* * *

When they drive home afterwards, Norma can't stop smiling, fumbling around with her skirt.

"You ruined my underwear," she purrs.

"We ruined my back seat," he comments.

"Oh..." Norma turns around. There are, indeed, some stains on the fabric.

"Don't worry. I'll have it cleaned." But not before he got rid of the smell. The entire car smells of sex. Alex loves it, but everyone would notice immediately.

So that's what he does in exactly that order: Take his wife home, air his car out with a twinge of regret, let one of his deputies clean it while he handles the nonsense that was Norma's arrest, pack his things and move back where he belongs.

Norma is waiting for him with a delicious dinner although he has told her countless times she doesn't have to do it. But she wants to and he secretly loves it. And when she pours him some wine because this is a special day that needs to be celebrated, Alex notices that she is wearing his mother's ring again.

The war is over.

Finally.

* * *

 **The End**

 _Thank you for reading and reviewing (if you feel like it). :)_


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